


Bonnie and Clyde and That Other Guy

by misura



Category: Traveler
Genre: Community: smallfandomfest, M/M, Post-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-18
Updated: 2013-06-18
Packaged: 2017-12-16 21:09:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/866629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>For the better part of three years, Tyler has been a one-man audience to the Jay and Will Show.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bonnie and Clyde and That Other Guy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Enigel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enigel/gifts).



> prompt: _Tyler/Jay + Will; this time, Will is the outsider_

"We should be fake boyfriends," Tyler tells Jay, because he (Jay, not Tyler) is a little bit drunk, which is rare, and because he (Tyler, not Jay) isn't, which means the world is a clear and sober place, and because Will is off God knows where, doing God knows what.

Jay laughs, warm and friendly and kind of hot (his hair's a bit tousled, and the top button of his shirt is undone; these are the sorts of things Tyler notices). And tells Tyler's he's drunk. (Tyler, not Jay. Drunk people are like that; they don't know they're drunk.)

This is, in a nutshell, the story of Tyler's life.

 

Will is charming, and a liar.

Will is smart, and a scumbag.

Will is Jay's best friend, and some sort of super secret spy.

" _Ex-_ spy," Will says, and Jay gets this look on his face he used to get when Tyler talked about his dad, and about how he's never managing to live up to his old man's expectations.

"Yeah," Tyler says. "Right." Because obviously, guys who can pick a lock in thirty seconds with a paperclip after taking out two heavily armed guards using not even that are not at all impressive.

"And honestly, I think Jay likes you a lot more than he likes me." Will gives the door a tiny push and it swings open. There is a distinct lack of alarms going off loudly. "He does now, at least."

"Picture that," Tyler says, because unlike Jay, he does hold grudges. "Your dad ever tell you you're such a weak and worthless wimp he'd prefer it if you were dead?"

"The one nice thing about spy school," Will says. "They train us how to spot a lie."

"It's not a lie."

"He's your dad," Will says, sounding like one of Tyler's more annoying professors. "He lied."

The funny thing is: _Jay_ could have said that. Jay's very big on family - even if, yeah, he's not all that keen on Tyler's dad. So maybe if Jay had been here, he wouldn't have said it was a lie.

Maybe he just would've said that _he_ doesn't think Tyler's weak and worthless and a wimp.

And maybe not.

 

For the better part of three years, Tyler has been a one-man audience to the Jay and Will Show.

"They teach you how to set yourself apart," Will says, and Tyler remembers him and Jay, side by side on the couch, watching a Cubs game, popcorn in front of them, a couple of cans of beer on the table and Tyler, off to the side, in the big, comfortable chair. "To not get involved."

Tyler takes a sip from his can of coke and wonders how the Cubs are doing. "Kind of failed that one, didn't you?"

"Some things, it's a good thing to fail at," Jay (of course it's Jay) says.

Tyler toasts him. He intends for it to be ironic, but Jay lifts his own can in return, and all of a sudden, it sort of feels like an actual thing. A real thing.

Will chuckles and doesn't join in.

 

Jay gets painfully sincere when it's three in the morning and he's had too much coffee and whatever else they could find that might help them stay awake.

"Your dad's wrong, you know."

Tyler wonders if he's going to be able not to throw up before passing out. It's a bit ridiculous, really; the student lifestyle's supposed to prepare you for stuff like this. "No need to tell me, mate."

"I meant he was wrong about you." Jay looks at him, eyes bright and shiny.

Will is somewhere out there, saving the world one ass-kicking at a time. (Will is a very good ass-kicker, and also a traitor.)

"Yeah," Tyler says. "Right." He looks away and sees his father's face again, in the limo.

Jay grabs his shoulder. Tyler wonders if Will's been giving him some martial arts training on the sly, without inviting the third member of their little party of rebels with a cause. "I'm serious."

Tyler looks up and remembers every argument he's had with Jay. Every serious one, anyway. "He's my dad, Jay. I think he knows me pretty well."

"I'm your friend," Jay says, and Tyler wonders if Jay even notices that he doesn't say ' _best_ friend'.

Probably not. "Thanks, Jay."

Jay sighs. It's better than a yawn - less infectious. "Look, Ty - I just - " And just like that, there's hugging.

It's a pretty nice hug. Friendly. Warm.

Tyler feels kind of pervy for looking at Jay's mouth and thinking about kissing him, except then Jay sort of beats him to the punch, so then he figures it was all right after all.

 

Nothing changes.

Everything changes.

"So I think we should - " Will says, outlining the sort of fiendishly clever plan they probably taught him to come up with in spy school. Wherever that might be.

And Jay looks at Tyler and asks: "What do you think?", and Tyler shrugs as if he's been to spy school, too, and knows all about fiendishly clever plans.

"Sounds all right. Or we could just - "

They argue a lot more, these days, but they're good arguments.

They kind of feel like old times, come back again.

 

Jay and Tyler, sitting on the couch, watching a Cubs game, popcorn in front of them, a couple of cans of beer on the table and Will, off to the side, in the big, comfortable chair.

The game is old news, the popcorn is kind of stale and Will is wearing a bandage around his wrist, where a knife has nicked him, missing the artery by inches. (Jay calls it 'luck', Will calls it 'skill' with that grin that Tyler's come to know means he's lying his liar's head off.)

Still, Tyler figures it's not so bad.


End file.
